Bipolar man executed in China

Today saw Briton Akmal Shaikh executed by lethal injection for the smuggling of 4kg of Heroin. Regardless of whether you think capital punish is right or wrong, it would seem that China's history of infringing peoples human rights have well and truly shown wanting. Akmal was someone who suffered from Bipolar, and at the time of his smuggling and subsequent capture he was heavily delusional and had been taken advantage of. China state that he has no recorded history of mental illness and as such he was treated as a 'normal' smuggler. The British government has been harsh in its words towards China and demanded answers form its Ambassador to London, Gordon Brown has also contacted the Chinese Premier to lodge his concern. But with all these reports in the papers concerning this story, thy all seem to forget Britains seedy policy of extradition to the US, Gary McKinnion who also has mental health issues is going to be offered up to the US legal system like a sacrificial lamb. It was right for the Chinease to be condemned over this matter, but Britain should look at their own dirty linen before casting judgement on others.

I might, if I perform the crime under influence of a manic phase. I don't consider any action unreasonable of me in that state and stay far away from anyone I can hurt.

And there's no real comparison between the American legal system and the Chinese. The US isn't one to deny evidence of mental disorder just because it happened somewhere else.

Further, it pisses me off. The Chinese do what they please and no one stands up to them, other than to issue formal complaints. I'm fairly certain at this point that they're testing the bounds of what they can get away with... and finding it to be ANYTHING. Even trade sanctions have never been leveled, no matter how reprehensible their behaviour - the wealth from trading with them is apparently more valuable to governments than fighting tyranny.

Its hard to tell the Chinese what is right and wrong when you have to borrow money from them and when you have shipped your factories over there. We dont make anything anymore. Without Chinese imports we would have nothing. Without Chinese money our Govs would shut down.

He was indeed a British citizen, and as Steffen said, the Chinese may've been seeking to make an example of him. Not only is it a show of force (against a former colonial power no less), but it coincides with the usual hard-line stance that many Asian nations take against drug-related crimes. Singapore in particular has executed several smugglers, including an Australian citizen or two.

Graham also made a good point. Britain is known for having a very lopsided extradition arrangement with the US, whereby it tends to send a lot more criminal expatriates back to America than the other way around. In addition, odd libel laws have allowed many foreigners (and citizens) alike to sue Brits for 'slanderous' content against them (including in papers and blogs).